Texans Head to Polls on Monday as Early Voting Begins

Early voting for the 2016 presidential election begins in Texas on Monday. In addition to the state’s 38 electoral votes for President of the United States, state and county officials are vying for your votes.

Early voting locations will be open across the state. Voters can go to any early voting location within the county where they are registered to vote. Listed below are links to some of the online locations for early voting information in some of Texas’ largest counties. For other counties not listed, a link to the Texas Secretary of State’s website is provided.

Harris County is the largest county in the state, population wise. It is the third most populous county in the nations. Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart is preparing for massive voter turnout by increasing the number of early voting locations. “Since the 2012 Election, nine additional early voting locations have been added. Additionally, the time to vote during the first week of early voting has been extended to 6:00 pm,” Stanart said in a written statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. Check with your local election officials for information about voting in your specific county.

Stanart said he expects about 800,000 voters to turn out in Harris County during the two-week early voting period. “Preparedness on the part of the County Clerk’s Election Division, as well as voters, is key to a successful election,” he stated. He expects a total of around 1.4 million voters to cast ballots in this general election.

There are no statewide ballot propositions on the ballot this year. Only one Texas Railroad Commission race judicial benches are up for grabs on the statewide ballot. Three seats from the Texas Supreme Court appear on the ballot in addition to two on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the state’s highest criminal court). Two appellate district court positions are also on the ballot.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, voters will be able to choose whether the Texas Rangers baseball team will get a new stadium. In some other areas, voters will decide if alcohol can be sold in certain locations, the Fort Worth Star-Telegramreported.

VOTER ID INFORMATION:

According to the Texas Secretary of State, voters should bring one of the seven approved forms of photo identification. Those approved IDs are:

Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)

Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS

Texas personal identification card issued by DPS

Texas license to carry a handgun issued by DPS

United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph

United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph

United States passport

Other than the U.S. citizenship certificate, all other forms of Photo ID must be current, or have expired no more than four years ago to be considered valid.

If a voter does not have one of these forms of ID or cannot get one the voter can still vote by signing a declaration at the polls explaining why they are “reasonably unable to obtain one,” and by providing one of the “various forms of supporting documentation.

Supporting documentation can be a certified birth certificate (must be an original), a valid voter registration certificate, a copy or original of one of the following: current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck, or other government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, although government documents which include a photo must be original and cannot be copies. If a voter meets these requirements and is otherwise eligible to vote, the voter will be able to cast a regular ballot in the election.

Early Voting Locations:

Following are links for voter information for Republican Primary voting locations in the major counties where information could be found. For other counties, contact your local County Clerk or Election Administrators Office.